Goa has been running a unique health-on-wheels programme to provide check-ups to factory workers on site for 19 years, officials from the state said here Friday.

Launched in 1986 by the Inspectorate of Factories and Boilers, a van that is equipped with check-up facilities makes scheduled visits to industrial units.

The concept of "mobile occupational health clinics" is not new in countries like Australia and Canada, but the Goa project is perhaps the only one of its kind in India, state officials claim.

The van was displayed at the 92nd Indian Science Congress, the focal theme of which was "Health Technology as Fulcrum of Development".

With one doctor specialising in occupational health and seven technicians, the van visits a factory and does check-ups for about 25 workers at a time.

The facilities in the van include X-ray camera, spirometry lung function test, vision test, audio test, blood withdrawal and angiometry.

Some of the equipment was donated to the state by the UNDP.

"The services were offered free of charge when we started out. We later started charging a nominal fee that can be paid by workers, their union or the management," Lawrence Lobo, an official, told.

He said in 90 percent of cases, the management paid the charges. "It makes sense for them to see if their workers are physically fit. The vision test, for example, is necessary for workers doing certain processes in the pharmaceutical industry," he said.

The audio test is also necessary for workers operating high-noise machines.

The van was a centre of attraction at the "Hall of Pride" expo, organised as part of the science congress.

The five-day long science congress, inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, came to an end Friday.